Dopamine dilemma: How experiential can be the antidote to the doom scroll

Every device we own is intuitively designed to make our lives easier. But at the same time, this technology is creating an environment where our bodies are becoming addicted to a myriad of high-reward, high-excitement, dopamine-inducing stimuli. Our attention spans grow shorter as our minds and bodies crave the next endorsement and the next comment. This has become a defining force in culture.

Dopamine Culture has seeped into our everyday lives. Ted Gioia, aka The Honest Broker, recently shared this astutely crafted summary showing evidence that culture moved from traditional long formats into fast formats before being further accelerated and crystallized into micro-formats. This change is purely a reaction to a dopamine addiction infiltrating culture and the expectations of next-gen consumers.

But how does this translate to events and brand experiences? The challenge now is to get people to look up from their phones long enough to experience the IRL but also share it afterward in URL - I know, the irony isn’t lost on me.

For the ‘Dopamine Generation,’ interactions have evolved to drive user-generated content and brand endorsement, often bypassing the experience to be the catalyst for visibility through social media. The dopamine hit has been focused on the reaction from a post rather than the experience itself, perhaps engineered by gamification or an “Instagenic” backdrop, but ultimately looking at the endgame: an endless stream of potential dopamine hits with likes and comments.

This is simply feeding the beast.

Well-designed brand experiences have the opportunity to break this spiral. By putting the attendee and the experience first, brands can take advantage of the precious time consumers afford to brands in the live space and maximize the emotional connection between the two.

I’m not suggesting we can change generational behaviors, but we can create impactful pauses in the cycle. Let’s create moments that absorb consumers into brand worlds and maintain attention by the pure magic of the environment.

Digital isn’t the enemy; it is possible to connect with consumers through their devices with fully immersive experiences. During lockdown, our Bubble Club concept connected people with a digital scavenger hunt spread across the internet that led them to a live-streamed DJ set. To distract them from the real world of COVID and doom, we provided an immersive digital environment where they could enter the story world.

A powerful example of a brand leading people out of social media addiction came from the iconic nightclub Fabric, which banned phones from its dance floor with their rationale: “Our No Photo Policy is a statement on our mission to try and encourage our community to stay in the moment and create a culture of respect. It allows privacy to fellow dancers and the artists and removes the distraction – even if just for a few hours – allowing focus on what matters, the music”.

The new campaign for Snap positions the platform as being about experiences over social media. Yes, Snap is fundamentally a tech brand, but it differentiates itself by using AR to entertain and enrich IRL moments. Similarly, immersive entertainment venue The Outernet proves we can have a different relationship with technology, where it facilitates awe-inspiring experiences.

We shouldn’t ditch tech but rather prioritize human-to-human connection and embrace it in an attempt to offer deeper brand experiences. It would be naive to suggest that we should not create shareable experiences. Naturally, there will be moments when attendees are encouraged to capture and post, but timing and frequency should be considered.

Our goal should be to offer brand experiences as immersive entertainment. The antidote to the doom scroll.

Designing experiences for the cultural multiverse means building an extended dopamine stimulation that keeps consumers in the moment. Brands should aim for memorable and mesmerizing experiences. They should avoid bypassing experiences by jumping to the selfie moment for cheap, unsatisfying releases of dopamine that simply leave you on the hunt for your next dopamine dealer.

Andrew Casher is founder of experiential agency Hyperactive – part of creative agency Fold7.

Further reading:

• ‘A year like we’ve never had’: agencies’ relief as ad budgets return to experiential

• ‘There’s a huge appetite’: how experiential agencies are navigating the great comeback